Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Teardown & Component Analysis
Parts Description
Before proceeding with this page we strongly encourage you to a look at our PSUs 101 article, which provides valuable information about PSUs and their operation, allowing you to better understand the components we're about to discuss. Our main tools for disassembling PSUs are a Thermaltronics soldering and rework station and a Hakko FR-300 desoldering gun. Finally, for the identification of tiny parts we use an Andonstar HDMI digital microscope.
| General Data | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer (OEM) | CWT |
| Platform Model | - |
| Primary Side | |
| Transient Filter | 6x Y caps, 2x X caps, 2x CM chokes, 1x MOV |
| Inrush Protection | NTC Thermistor & Relay |
| Bridge Rectifier(s) | 2x Vishay LVB2560 (600V, 25A @ 105°C) |
| APFC MOSFETs | 2x Vishay SIHG33N60E (650V, 21A @ 100°C, 0.099Ω) |
| APFC Boost Diode | 1x CREE C3D10060A (600V, 10A @ 153°C) |
| Hold-up Cap(s) | 1x Chemi-Con (400V, 680uF, 2000h @ 105°C, KMZ) 1x Chemi-Con (400V, 560uF, 2000h @ 105°C, KMR) |
| Main Switchers | 4x Fairchild FCPF190N65F (650V, 13.1A @ 100°C, 0.19Ω) |
| APFC Controller | Texas Instruments UCC28070 & CM03X |
| LLC Resonant Controller | Champion CM6901 |
| Topology | Primary side: Full-Bridge & LLC Resonant Controller Secondary side: Synchronous Rectification & DC-DC converters |
| Secondary Side | |
| +12V MOSFETs | 12x Infineon BSC016N06NS (60V, 100A @ 100°C, 1.6mΩ) |
| 5V & 3.3V | DC-DC Converters: 7x Ubiq QM3006D (30V, 57A @ 100°C, 5.5mΩ) PWM Controller: 1x APW7159C |
| Filtering Capacitors | Electrolytics: Nippon Chemi-Con (1-5,000 @ 105°C, KZE), Nippon Chemi-Con (4-10,000 @ 105°C, KY) Polymers: Nippon Chemi-Con, FPCAP |
| Supervisor IC | 2x Weltrend WT7518 (OCP, PG, SCP) |
| Fan Model | NR135P (135mm, 12V, 0.22A, Fluid Dynamic Bearing) |
| Fan Controller | Microchip PIC16F1503 |
| 5VSB Circuit | |
| Rectifier | 1x PFR20V45 SBR (45V, 2x 10A) & M03N65D FET (switcher) |
| Standby PWM Controller | On-Bright OB5269CP |
CWT makes all of Corsair's HXi and HX power supplies, so it's no surprise that the HX1200's platform shares many similarities with the HX1200i. The major difference, of course, is the lack of a digital interface circuit. A half-bridge topology and an LLC resonant converter are utilized on the primary side, while FETs generate the +12V rail on the secondary side. Two DC-DC converters on the secondary side are used for generating the minor rails.
Interestingly, the primary side's heat sinks are pretty small for a 1.2kW PSU, and there are no actual heat sinks on the secondary side.
The AC receptacle hosts the first part of the transient filter, which includes two Y caps. The filter's other parts are on the main PCB and consist of four Y and two X caps, two CM chokes, and an MOV.
The bridge rectifiers are able to handle up to 50A of current combined. Two Vishay LVB2560 bridges are used, and they are cooled by a dedicated heat sink.
There is an NTC thermistor for inrush current protection, and it's backed up by a bypass relay.
The HX1200 employs an interleaved PFC converter, meaning that two APFC converters work in parallel with a phase difference among them. This minimizes input/output current ripple and lowers conduction losses, which increases efficiency and doubles the effective switching frequency. In total, two Vishay SIHG33N60E FETs are used by both APFC converters, along with a couple of CREE C3D10060A boost diodes. There are also two bulk caps with different capacities (680uF and 560uF, so 1240uF combined). Both bulk caps are provided by Chemi-Con and are of high quality.
The APFC controller is a Texas Instruments UCC28070 which is supported by a CM03X PFC controller that's responsible for low power consumption in standby. Both ICs are hosted on a small daughterboard.
Four Fairchild FCPF190N65Fs are the primary switching FETs, configured in a full bridge topology. Those FETs are also supported by an LLC resonant converter for lower switching loss. The LLC resonant controller is the omnipresent Champion CM6901 IC.
Two parallel transformers form a bridge between the primary and secondary sides. Right in front of them is a PCB that hosts all FETs tasked with regulating the +12V rail, 12 Infineon BSC016N06NS. As usual for a CWT platform, there are no heat sinks on the secondary side. The +12V FETs are cooled by a number of bus bars, along with the fan's airflow (at least when it's spinning, since this PSU features a long-lasting passive mode.
Right in front of the +12V regulation board is another PCA hosting the voltage regulation modules that generate the minor rails. The common PWM controller is an Anpec APW7159C IC, while in total seven Ubiq QM3006Ds are used.
The electrolytic filtering caps are provided by Chemi-Con, and they belong to the KZE and KY lines. Most of the filtering caps are polymers, though; on the main PCB we only find Chemi-Con polymer caps.
The 5VSB rail is regulated by a combination of a M03N65D FET and a PFR20V45 SBR. The standby PWM controller is installed on the main PCB (it's an On-Bright OB5269CP IC). There is another FET on the back of the modular PCB, which is most likely part of the 5VSB circuit.
On the rear side of the modular PCB, three thick cables transfer the minor rails, along with earth, to the sockets. A smaller one transfers the 5VSB rail while another one is used for the -12V rail.
A large number of FPCAP polymer caps are installed on the front side of the modular board.
Two Weltrend WT7518s, plus a number of LM393 voltage comparators, handle the PSU's protection features. Both WT7518 ICs are installed on the modular board.
CWT's soldering quality is very good. The company has a solid production line with effective QC.
Corsair uses a Microchip PIC16F1503 to control fan speed. This allows it to adjust the fan profile easier and more effectively.
We find a NR135P fan (135mm, 12V, 0.22A) installed. Thanks to its FDB bearing, it should last a long time. In general, this is a slow-spinning fan that doesn't make much noise, even at full speed.
MORE: Best Power Supplies
MORE: How We Test Power Supplies
MORE: All Power Supply Content
Researchers store multiple bits of data in diamond defects by encoding across different light frequencies, achieving a data density of 25GB per square inch
LogoFAIL exploit bypasses hardware and software security measures and is nearly impossible to detect or remove
Nvidia reportedly releasing a new and weaker RTX 3050 6GB to replace the already anemic 8GB variant
